Israeli Hospital Ceiling Collapses in Iran Strike
Scenes of Chaos and Survival After Iran’s Missile Strike on Israeli Hospital
When reporters arrived at Soroka Medical Center, hours after an Iranian missile strike, thick black smoke still drifted from the heart of the facility.
Twisted shards of metal—likely fragments from the missile itself—were scattered across a vast 200-meter radius within and around the hospital premises.
The emergency scene outside was tense but organized. Dozens of vehicles carrying medical personnel and first responders lined the road. The turnout reflected what many had feared would be a catastrophic mass-casualty incident.
Soldiers, police officers, and rescue teams filled the hospital’s entrance, while a steady stream of government ministers arrived to assess the damage and publicly condemn the attack.
One patient, Alon Uzi, was still dazed, pacing near the hospital’s main entrance with a couple of bags clutched in his hands.
He had been inside the emergency department when the missile struck and said there was no time to reach shelter.
“I was lying in bed, getting ready, and I suddenly heard a loud boom,” Uzi recounted. “Then a whistling sound—and before I could react, the ceiling came down. Dust and debris were everywhere.”
Inside the emergency reception area, the air was thick with a blend of dust and chemical fumes. Medics continued to evacuate patients on stretchers from deep within the facility as damage assessments were underway in the surgical wards that had taken a direct hit.
Fortunately, many patients had already been relocated to underground shelters in the hospital as a precaution.
According to Israel’s Ministry of Health, 71 people were injured in the attack.
Professor Asher Bashiri, head of the maternity department, said he could see the blast site from his office window.
“It was like something out of a nightmare. The upper floors were cracked and engulfed in flames,” he said. “We were lucky. We had moved all our patients to safer zones early in the war.”
Hospital director Dr. Shlomi Codish confirmed that the northern surgical wing was hit and reported severe structural damage across multiple wards.
“We’re preparing to transfer over 200 patients to other facilities,” he said. “There’s real concern that some buildings may still collapse.”
Culture Minister Miki Zohar of the Likud party visited the hospital, stating: “The world must understand who we are dealing with—this is a regime committed to killing innocent civilians. We will respond decisively.”
Zohar faced questions about Israel’s own controversial record of striking hospitals in Gaza. He defended the IDF’s conduct, saying: “We take precautions. We issue warnings. That’s the moral difference between us and Iran.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz labeled the Iranian strike a war crime, directly blaming Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the sentiment, promising retaliation and warning that Iran’s leadership would pay a steep price for what he called the deliberate targeting of civilians.
Iranian state media, however, claimed their intended target was not the hospital, but a facility in the Gav-Yam tech park, located less than 3km away.
The Soroka Medical Center strike was one of several coordinated Iranian missile attacks across Israel on Thursday—an escalation that comes just one day after former U.S. President Donald Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
In response, Israel launched 40 fighter jets to strike Iranian targets, including missile installations, radar systems, and even a dormant nuclear reactor in Arak. Among the sites bombed was a nuclear development complex in Natanz.
As tit-for-tat strikes escalate between the two nations, international observers warn that the conflict teeters dangerously close to a full-scale regional war—one that could drag in global powers.
The U.S. is reportedly weighing direct intervention, with a proposed demand that Iran halt its nuclear enrichment as a precondition for peace.
With tensions mounting by the day and both sides increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, the fragile balance in the region may not hold much longer.
Israeli Hospital Ceiling Collapses in Iran Strike